Paul Rioux has joined the Sitka School Board – again. Board secretary Dawn Georgia did the honors, swearing in Rioux for the third time.
Georgia: “…and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge my duties…”
Rioux: “…and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge my duties…”
Georgia: “…as a member of the Sitka School Board to the best of my ability…”
Rioux: “…as a member of the Sitka School Board to the best of my ability…”
Rioux served a full term from 2019 – 2022 but chose not to run again. Late last summer, when board president Tristan Guevin resigned to apply for a teaching position in the district, Rioux was appointed to the vacancy – which lasted all of one regular meeting in October.
With only one candidate on the ballot for two open seats on the school board in the municipal election, the next move for Rioux could have been to register as a write-in. However, he chose not to.
KCAW: “I have a feeling that people are wondering why you went this route instead of running as a write-in for the three-year term.”
Rioux: “Oh, I was just hesitant to make the three-year commitment at this point. I wanted to give it a chance, and I kind of waited and monitored to see if anyone was going to jump in, and nobody did. So I made a decision to go ahead and put in another letter of interest to fill in for a year, because I think the board can always use the help, especially when there’s an empty seat.”
Rioux will serve only one year, until the municipal election in October, 2025.
The other members of the Sitka School Board wasted no time appointing Rioux. They dispensed with the usual interview, since he was the only applicant, and had just interviewed for the job a month before. Rioux was a significant voice on the board during his previous full term, much of which was served during the peak of the Covid pandemic.
Rioux witnessed what the board went through last spring, as it confronted a major budget deficit and was forced to layoff fourteen teachers.
He didn’t suggest that he would have done anything differently.
“It’s a really, really difficult thing and, we’ve had a lot of people in this town that have served on this board that have had to do that,” he said. “Over the last 20 years, we’ve lost a lot of programs and a lot of instruction: librarians and different positions and whatnot. And it’s not an easy thing to do, to have to take something away, but we have no way to raise funds, so we have to build a budget around the funds that we’re given and it’s not an easy thing to do.”
Once the board was seated, the group chose officers for the year. Phil Burdick was voted unanimously as president of the board; Tom Williams as vice-president, and Steve Morse as clerk.
Board members also alternate serving as liaisons to the individual school buildings: Newly-elected member Amanda Williams selected Keet Gooshi Heen; Paul Rioux took Pacific High; Steve Morse, Xóots; Tom Williams, Sitka High; and Phil Burdick took Blatchley. Student board member Francis Myers will be the official student liaison for all grade levels.
